Where is Moldova?

Located in Eastern Europe, Moldova has a 1,885.00 km border with Romania (683 km) and Ukraine (1,202 km). Moldova and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to monitor the transit of people and commodities through Moldova's break-away Transnistria region.

The capital city of Moldova is Chi?in?u. Chi?in?u is centrally located in the country, on the banks of River Bic, which is a tributary of the Dniester. The city was first chosen as the headquarters and capital of Oblast and Bessarabia during the Russo-Turkish War in 1806-1812. The city is the most populated region in the country with a population of over 644,000 including the metropolitan area. It experiences continental humid climate. The temperatures of summer and winter are extreme. The precipitation is average, although heavy storms are experienced once in a while.

Moldova is a European country covering 33,851.00 km2 of which 2.84% is water and 32,891.00 km2 is land. This makes it the 60th smallest country in the world and slightly larger than Maryland. Its geographic coordinates are 47 00 N, 29 00 E and Chisinau is the capital city.

Moldova is named for the Moldova River in eastern Romania.

Its ISO code is MD.

Geography

Moldova has a mean elevation of 139 m above sea level.

It has a moderate climate with mild winters and warm summers. Its terrain mainly consists of rolling steppe.

Population

Moldova has a population of 3,510,485 making it the 133rd largest in the world. The majority of the population lives in the center of the country near Chisinau.

Romanian is the official language, although it is sometimes called Moldovan. The majority ethnic group is Moldovan. The majority of the country is Orthodox Christian.

Romanian is the official language of Moldova. Most citizens of Moldova prefer to call the language Moldovan. Romania is a Romance language, which belongs to the Italic Branch of Indo-European languages. The alphabet of Romanian has 22 consonants and 7 vowels. In writing, the language utilizes the Latin alphabet. However, some vowels and consonants have been introduced as some vocabularies were being borrowed. Up to 80% of the citizens of Moldova use Romanian as their first language. The common minority languages used in the country include Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Gaugaz. The minority languages are mainly spoken by immigrants or non citizens who remained in the country after independence.

Government

Moldova is an independent country. It gained independence with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Its constitution was last ratified in 1994.

Moldova is a representative parliamentary democratic state. It practices a multi-party democracy, whereby each party aims to garner the highest number of seats in the parliament. The president is the head of state whereas the prime minister is the head of government. The president is limited to two terms of four years each. After the president is elected, he appoints the prime minister, who in turn forms the government and appoints the cabinet. Elections are conducted every four years to elect the president as well as the members of parliament.

Economy

Factoring in Purchasing Power Parity, Moldova's GDP is $18,540,000,000.00 (USD) with $5,200.00 (USD) per capita. This makes it the 147th largest economy and its citizens the 164th richest in the world. The currency of Moldova is the Leu (MDL).

Its major export partners are Romania, Italy, Turkey, and Russia. Its main exports are foodstuffs, textiles, and machinery. Its major import partners are Russia, Romania, and Ukraine. Its major imports include mineral products and fuel, machinery and equipment, chemicals, and textiles.

Flag

The state flag of Moldova represents the country’s democratic principles, equality of rights, and the good relations between all the citizens. The flag bears a resemblance to the Romanian flag to symbolize common origin. The ultramarine blue on the Romanian flag was replaced with emerald blue in 1990. The current flag of Moldova is a vertical tricolor with blue, yellow and red colors. In the middle of the flag, there is a court of arm represented by an eagle with a shield resting on its breast and olive branches on its beak. The features of the court of arm like the cross, olive branches, and the scepters are largely borrowed from Christian beliefs. The Moldovan flag was proposed by the National Commission of Heraldry with J N Maniscue playing a critical role in its adoption. Moldova has had several flags in history including a horizontally tricolored flag of blue, yellow, and red with a court of arm in the middle. During the USSR regime, the banner was mainly red with a horizontal green strip.